Melodious Life
by Lost in My Sapphire Eyes
Summary: Near midnight, she takes her jeep out to Lover's Cove, and sings to the sea, with tears slipping from her chin to moisten the cool sand. He opens the lifeguard house and sees her figure, screaming to the world, in the glow of the full moon. AU indefinite hiatus
1. Introduction: A Memory and A New Start

**Introduction**

She read the beach sign for the first time. She was being taught to read by her mother. Her father already set out a blanket and beach umbrella. Her mother was setting out materials for lunch. It was a warm spring day, so they went to the beach to celebrate. They returned later to their comfortable house on the edge of the forest. Little Ruka was asleep in her father's arms. They returned home from that house later that evening.

He saw her at the beach. That was the first time he saw her. He could not believe his eyes…. He went to his favorite place, and found something more special. There she was… His first love… Only he did not know it yet.

**14 Years Later**

"Welcome the Sea Bells." That was how the shop owners greeted newcomers. This was her thirteenth summer there… and they still haven't said, "Oh, hello Ruka, Ms Souen. You're back. We kept watch on your summer home while you were gone…" Ruka was getting tired of the same this every year. School in the autumn, until spring, then an entire summer at the house here. But not anymore! They moved permanently into that house this year, the summer before she graduated. Dammed.

The town of Sea Bells is a rural town, practically its own island, if not for the massive temperate forest used by the locals to get away from the ocean for once. The high school, Shore High School, is only large enough for the hundred or so teenagers that inhabit the island. She was leaving all her main-land friends, and large estate, with her parents. They sold it off to her dad's boss. Now, she must be satisfied with a three bedroom A-frame house.

_At least here, the trees block all the visitors. And none of the locals know not to come to this house. It's up on the mountain, on the border of the forest. I can stay here without any annoying 'friends,' or whatever they think our relationship status is, _she wrote in her journal._ I start school in three weeks… This year will definitely pass by quickly._

"I hope." She said aloud.


	2. The Sweet Aroma of the Sun

She walk through the halls of the school. All the students had cleared the corridors; they were excited for the weekend. Ruka decided to spend extra time roaming, not wanting to go home yet. But, she could leave whenever she wanted to. She didn't even need to go home! For this reason, she had driven her Jeep in today. She had opted to sneak down to the beach, and bask in the sunshine.

She made her way across the soft beach sand. She knew exactly where she was going… Straight to her secret hideout. It was far away from the lifeguard station. Nestle between large boulders, that had eventually smoothed down by the constant waves meeting it. In the center was one large flat rock, taller than the rest, that Ruka could peacefully spread out a large towel and sleep on.

Following her Friday ritual, she did… And did not wake up.

Kain, the head life guard, was patrolling his beach, as always. He had graduated last year from Shore High School, and was now the full time lifeguard on duty. Every morning he would clean up the beach, do some training exercise, and prepare all equipment for what may happen. He was always prepared for the worst. In the evenings, he would yet again patrol the beach and make sure that the beach was safely secured. Nothing escaped his notice.

Luckily enough for him, there were two more capable life guards who could babysit the beach while he went out and had some fun. Since it was Friday, more people were at the beach, but the other life guards could handle it, so there was no problem. He grabbed his surf board, flew across the sand, and paddled out. He was determined to catch a big one today.

He was catching up to the wave. Almost there. And he stood, balanced. He was riding the tallest wave of the day. While on it, he could view the entire beach line. From the station, to the docks. He saw the aquamarine waves crashed against the polished boulders on the far end of the beach. The sun was hitting the area so perfectly, and he saw a reflection.

"That's weird… No one can access that point without extensive knowledge and climbing abilities," he mumbled to himself. Then he saw it… Or should I say her? She was lounging like a house cat on the rock. Her blonde hair glistened with gold and bronze. Her skin was creamy, and dewy.

With this uncensored viewing of the girl, Kain lost his footing on the surf board. Right at the top of wave, he fell. The waves hit him hard, but he just did what his body told him: do not fight it. Cover your head with your arms, and brace yourself.

If only he knew to follow that rule in reality…

By the time Ruka woke up, the sun was practically done setting, with the warm colors contrasting greatly with the water. She took it all in, and commenced her descend back onto the beach. Her watch read six o'clock… pm.

"Damn…" She swore under her breath. Her mother was going to kill her! She had to drive quickly. In the massive chaos, she did not even think to bring her towel.

Kain washed ashore, and his board followed him. He could not believe it… He found what he her. After so many years, he found her. Every time he looked, he couldn't find her, but now he did! He scrambled up to collect himself and his surf board. He got changed in the station and jogged to where the girl from earlier was.

Too bad it was already too late. The time was pushing six thirty. The beach was already closed. He still check the cove as part of his patrol route, and only found a dark blue and green striped towel.

"That must be hers." He grabbed it and folded it up. It was still warm. He sniffed it. It smelled like jasmine and passion flower. _That must be her perfume,_ he thought. Sweet and fragrant, just the way he liked it. There was a hint of pine and maple, but that might have been from the forest behind the rocky cove.

Kain packed up his things, took the towel, and headed to his loft. His roommates were probably waiting for him. He would have to hide the towel, though. _What a shame,_ he concluded, _but it has to be done._

That night, he wrapped the towel around his pillow, and fell asleep, breathing in her sweet aroma.

* * *

Special thanks to Rinako for reviewing! As long as someone likes this story, I will continue writing it! =D


	3. Here Comes Your Sun

Dedicated to: Kaiana Alicia Kaiba, Magie95, Rinako, so not telling, and all you other hooligans out there who've read this! Here's a nice long update for you! OAO

* * *

Her phone buzzed. She looked at the clock. It was four in the morning. She needed to get moving, or she would miss it.

What was it, you ask?

The birth of a new day.

She had packed the bag the night before, and all that was waiting was for her to fill up her jeep. She grabbed another towel, her guitar, and beach bag and placed them in the passenger seat. She had to get there soon.

Kain woke up early. He got ready for the new day. Being head life guard, he had to triple check everything on the beach. He had to get there before it opened at seven. He ran from his apartment to the life guard station.

When he got there, he saw an unusual scene. In the parking lot, there was already a vehicle. It was a sky blue jeep wrangler, with hand painted star gazer lilies. He did not know of anyone in town who owned a car like that, so he figured that a tourist had taken up residence that last night. He told himself to check it out later.

Ruka laid out the towel on her rock. She was making her space more harmonious to her needs. She laid her guitar next to her and kept her bag close. She got up and walked along the cold, moist sand.

She was setting up her tripod to capture light breaking the horizon. She need to get this to continue her "52 Mornings of Light" art project. Over a year, she had been photographing the sunrise. This was going to be her last one, and it had to be perfect.

Kain started his warm ups for the day. Fifty push-ups, fifty crunches, fifty leg lifts, and then some light yoga to stretch himself out.

Likewise, Ruka was doing yoga, awakening her senses to the gracious moment of dawn.

Kain ran up and down the beach. He then raked up the debris that had washed ashore. There was a lot of drift wood around, so he took it and hid it in his stash. He was determined to have a huge bonfire with that girl from his memories, and who he had saw on the beach the day before. He wanted that moment to be perfect.

After setting up her camera, she took her guitar out and tune it. The guitar also had to sound amazing. She was going to play a song during the video. She was going to do a cover of The Beatles, "Here Comes the Sun." Fitting, right?

The sun was just peeking up from its cloudy blankets. It did not want to wake up yet. Kain stopped his work, and looked out across the waves. He knew it was going to be a beautiful day.

Ruka pressed record on her camcorder. She started to play the song, and melody. Her body started to sway in the breeze along with the rhythm. Her tune carried out across the water, coaxing the sleepy sun from its bed.

Kain heard the faint whispering of a classic melody. He was chilling out on the deck, watching the sun rise. Then he listened harder. There was a smooth voice singing. He left his orange juice to investigate it.

He took followed the song through the woods. Watching sun rises through the trees is just a pretty as watching it on the beach. Continuing his search, the melody lead his to a familiar sight, only from a different perspective.

It was the rocky cove that had echoed the guitar's chords. Her sweet voice was clear and audible. He knew that voice. She knew that voice too. It was from the deepest part of her heart. It resonated through her soul, and she was not afraid of it. In public, maybe. But by herself, she could belt out the tune like she owned it.

With the breeze caressing her face and lifting her tresses, she looked like a nymph, enlightened by the new day's light. The music just matched her beauty. Kain knew he was going to stay here as long as possible. He wanted this nearness. He felt his soul calling out to hers, if only in his heart. If he even made a noise, she would probably stop. She might even run away from him.

For now, distance was good.

* * *

A few hours later, Kain was on his lunch break. He decided to scope out the woods to see if the nameless girl was still there. Luck was on his side that day; the forest was empty. Everyone was in town and on the beach. He could silently check up on her.

When he got to her cove, she was asleep. Lounging perfectly on the rock, he heard a soft whistle. He watched, awed, as she stretched herself out and curled back up into a comfortable position. He just gaped. He could not believe that she would do that so publically. Though, no soul ever wandered this far into the woods. All the residents here were purely beach goers. No one ever used the forest as a campground; they would just use the beach.

Kain moved in closer. He just wanted to see her up close for once. As he rounded a boulder, he could see her skin glowing in the sunlight. But that wasn't all. She had a small, well-hidden tattoo of a tribal butterfly on her right hip. The butterfly itself was perched on a white flower bud. He did not assume she had a tattoo.

When he inspected her closer, he saw she actually had a few large scars. They were well healed, but seemed deep. They were in places she could not have reached, so they obviously were not of her doing. He came to stand beside her. He could not see her face, but he guessed she looked comfortable.

He then realized she was red. Really red. She had a bad burn.

His lifeguard mode had been activated. He gently called out to her. "Excuse me! Wake up!" She did not respond. "Hey! Wake up! You have a severe sun burn!" Still no response. He shook her burned shoulders. "Come on! You need to wake up!"

She still didn't respond.

That's when he wrapped her up in her towel and radioed the other guards on duty to keep the beach. He was taking a girl to the hospital. He called for the newbie to come pick up her things and keep them in the station.

He took his certified emergency vehicle. The hummer left skid marks on the asphalt. No one stopped him on the highway.

Good thing, too, because he probably looked like a mad man.

The entire ride, she did not even come close to consciousness.

* * *

You can turn Kain's lifeguard mode on and off! I would just keep him turned on all the time! xD

Anyways, for this part of the story, I was imagining Ruka's voice to be like Colbie Caillat. She did an awesome cover of "Here Comes the Sun" by The Beatles. Seriously. When I listened to it, I was picturing playing that tune on my guitar (an Ibanez that I pictured Ruka having) on the beach, literally serenading the sun to come up from the horizon. You can listen to it here: .com/watch?v=FmJgISJZn4I

xD have fun! But not with Yagari, we're having a shoot out. And Ruka's off with Kain again. 8D

(btw, was anyone else disappointed at the lack of Kain and Ruka in the recent issues of VK? I feel so deprived. TToTT )


	4. A Sun That Burns The Soul

**Big thankies to Kaiana Alicia Kaiba for a character and story alert. =D See bottom Author's Note for more details!  
**

* * *

The drive to the closest hospital was an hour long. Kain had to take the only bridge to the mainland. It was the longest bridge and was the bulk of the drive. Now that it was his lunch "break," he knew that all the traffic congestion had been long gone. All the workers who lived on Sea Bells took the highway at the two rush hours of the day; one in the morning, and one in the evening.

There was one toll that Kain had to get through, but being in the emergency vehicle with his sirens going he passed all that with ease. It was not every day that an emergency happened in their small town.

Through the entire ride, Kain kept on looking back at her. He still did not know her name but he knew that whatever is was had to match her. Since there was no change in her condition, he focused on the road. The wind was blowing hard and it forced him to keep the hummer from swerving (This was actually a funny sight; a large, tough machine being blown away by the ocean breeze).

Soon, Kain was at the hospital which was right off the highway, as per expected. At the emergency room entrance, he honked his horn and ran around the front to pick up a limp girl and carry her to an awaiting gurney. The nurse station was is array; this visit was the beginning of an abnormally quiet day.

The nurses hooked her up to an intravenous hydration supply and a heart monitor. The head nurse then took him to the desk to fill out paper work…. But he did not know anything about her. Kain assured the nurse that he will send for her belongings immediately. He borrowed the phone and called up the newbie to bring in the bag.

Meanwhile, the girl herself was undergoing intensive healing. The doctors bathed her body in cold water, trying to ease up the burns. They told Kain that they will give her anesthesia and keep her under while they tried to applied a pain relieving medication to her. The doctors also concluded that she had hyperthermia and she will be given paracetamol in her intravenous drip to bring down her fever. That was all they could tell him.

Kain waited in the entrance for the newbie, named Alicia, to bring the girl's apparatus. She walked in the door a few minutes later. The breeze form outside whipped her hair around her face. She was not as tan as Kain, but she still had some color to her. Her lithe frame seemed to glide across the lobby floor, which was quite a comparison to her athletic body.

"Hey, I brought her belongings. How is she?" Alicia asked.

"She's stable and they hooked her up to an IV drip. She was dehydrated pretty badly." He said solemnly. His face looked pained and stressed. Alicia knew that her boss was overworked. She might as well keep his mind off of what mentally fatigued him.

"So….. how did you find her? Were you creeping on her?" she humored. He did not laugh at that. His eyes actually got a darker shadow on them.

"No, I was making my daily rounds. She has been here since this morning; even before I did. She had a camera set up, so I thought she was a crazy artist. I just let her be. Then I patrolled on my lunch break and found her. She must have fell asleep in the open sun." he explained nonchalantly.

Alicia thought through the scenario. _Why would he patrol through the forest? No one goes there. Everyone knows the stories about what is beyond it…_ But she shrugged it off, not really caring about some chick that just made her beloved boss anxious for her safety.

Then, a doctor came to talk to Kain. The doctor wanted to know what circumstances she was under when Kain found her.

"She suffered from heat stroke, and should be waking up soon. You can go talk to her, but since you're not family, we can only allow about ten minutes." Kain nodded and walked to the door. He knocked and heard a soft "come in." The voice seemed strained.

He saw a weakened form on the bed. She had pillows surrounding her injured body. Her hair was still wet; the water droplets were following a trail down her neck underneath her hospital gown. Her face was long and, surprisingly not burned. It seems that she only had sunscreen on her face.

Awkwardly, Kain came in and sat in the chair next to her. She was looking at him suspiciously. She finally started to talk.

"May I help you?" She asked, defensively. She seemed not to want to have strangers around her.

"Yes, sorry for being so rude. My name is Kain Akatsuki*. I was the lifeguard who brought you here." He introduced himself. It took her a few seconds to comprehend what he said.

"Lifeguard? But I was not swimming. I was in the cove, nowhere near the beach." Her instincts suddenly changed from sort of strange to creeper alert. She wanted him out of there as fast as possible.

"I'm head lifeguard, so I have to make rounds through the entire beach accessible area. I always walk in the forest during my break." He kept it cool, knowing full well what she had pictured him as. He knew he was definitely not that type of person, especially towards the feminine sex. He kept all details to a minimum as he told her how he found her.

"So you did the hero move and saved the maiden in distress. Nice job. Now, if you would leave, I need to have some aloe rub-" He stood up at that and picked up a blue bottle on the bedside table.

"Lift you gown," he commanded. She looked shocked. Right when she was going to rebut him, he interrupted. "Turn around so I can get your back. That was where it was, right?"

"Uhhh…. yeah. Thanks, I guess." She lifted up the back and moved her hair to her shoulder. He pressed the cool gel to her still burning skin and she gasped. "I was not expecting it to be freezing!"

"You'll get used to it soon." He smirked, bemused. "By the way, I brought one of the lifeguards to bring your stuff up from the cove. She's-"

"I'm here!" She interjected, slamming open the door. "Ruka, are you okay? Jeez, I did not know it was you who Kain brought here until I looked at your license! I'm a horrible best friend!"

"Oh shut it drama queen. I may have had my things stolen without you. And I really need that video. It's the ending to my senior project. And I'm really close to the deadline, considering classes are over in two weeks." Ruka responded.

"Yeah, well… What were you doing with Kain? All I saw was a bare back with some sexy hair on the shoulder." She smiled, starting to laugh. Ruka blushed, know she would never hear the end of that. Kain, on the other hand, was very confused.

"So you guys know each other? How?"

"Well our parents were friends before she moved here. She used to visit us here all the time. But now she lives her!" Alicia was really excited over this. "What's wrong, Kain? You think I contaminated her mind with my awesomeness?"

Kain shook his head. He had to get going.

"I have to go check up on the other newbies, so I will catch you later. Alicia, please take care of her. Ruka, nice meeting you. I hope we can see each other soon, hopefully not in a hospital." The girls smiled and waved as he closed the door.

"So, Ruka, when are you going to make a move on him. Besides the 'I'm so helpless. Can you rub me up with medicine while you look at my sensual back?' card." Ruka hit her with a pillow, but she was still blushing. "Gyah! I'm sorry!" Alicia dodged another blow to her head. "But you are still blushing. You like him."

"So what? How many nice, hot guys are on this freaking island anyway. Besides him, none. They're all either taken or morons. You know that I can never date one of them. Idiots are not, under any circumstances, acceptable. As are douche bags. I just cannot stand them!"

"Yeah, well you finally stepped down from your high horse to have a somewhat civil conversation with a man. That's a big step." Alicia gave Ruka a smile. "And when you are out of the hospital, we will go to the beach and you will hang out with him all you want."

"Thanks, Alicia. I love having a best friend like you."

"Honey, I'm your only friend." Ruka slapped her across the face with the pillow again.

* * *

***I used Akatsuki's surname as his actual name to make it easier to type and because Kain is another way to spell a name (Caine) in English speaking countries. I moved them out of Japan in this story, that's why I labeled it AU for Alternative Universe. **

**I hope this is satisfying! I have not idea when I will be able to finish and post another chapter, but it is finally getting to spring, so I will be outside more... Please do not expect any certain date that I will have this finished by. 8D I will make this story last FOREVER! xD**


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